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Project Description

The Price and Purity of Illicit Drugs

PI: Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Ph.D.
Funded by: Office of National Drug Control Policy
Project Dates:September 2002 – April 2004

The purpose of this study is to develop updated and projected estimates of the price and purity of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine and the price of marijuana in the United States for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Drug prices offer essential insights into drug use and drug markets (Caulkins and Reuter, 1996, 1998), and the proposed analyses will enable the ONDCP to understand drug market forces as reflected by changes in drug price and purity over time. We propose to develop national price and purity trends by replicating previously developed models that were reported in The Price of Illicit Drugs: 1981 through the Second Quarter of 2000 (ONDCP, 2001). We would update those results with the latest data that are available in the System to Retrieve Information from Drug Evidence (STRIDE) database from the Drug Enforcement Administration. We would also pursue several important extensions and improvements to the current illicit drug price and purity methodology, assuming that these extensions and improvements are approved, and document the implications of any accepted improvements. Our objective in exploring these extensions and improvements is to increase the utility of the STRIDE data to policymakers and researchers who use these data to understand drug markets and the impact of drug policy on supply and demand.

Project Publications

The Price and Purity of Illicit Drugs: 1981 Through the Second Quarter of 2003

J. Caulkins, R.L. Pacula , J. Arkes, P. Reuter, S. Paddock, M. Iguchi, and J. Riley

Full Document (www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov)
Office of National Drug Control Policy, November 2004.

Technical Report for the Price and Purity of Illicit Drugs Through 2003

J. Arkes, R.L. Pacula, S. Paddock, J. Caulkins, and P. Reuter

Full Document (www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov)
Office of National Drug Control Policy, November 2004.